1. The Field Of The Invention
This invention relates to electrical terminals used in insulation piercing termination of conductors having substantially any center spacing.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
A trend within the electrical industry in recent years has been toward the miniaturization of electrical devices and, in particular, the reduction in size of the interconnection systems associated with such devices. Correspondingly, the need has arisen for an inexpensively produced, space efficient, insulation displacing terminal for terminating insulated conductors on closely spaced centers.
The difficulty in terminating conductors on close centers, coupled with the desirability of effecting such a termination by an insulation displacing technique, has represented a dilemma to those within the electrical industry attempting to invent a suitable terminal. To terminate wires on close centers, the maximum width dimension of a terminal is limited by the spacing between adjacent conductors. Insulation displacing termination, however, mandates that the terminal's slot defining portion which receives the conductor be of sufficient thickness to achieve a minimum level of rigidity. This rigidity is necessary to enable the terminal to effectively pierce through the insulative sleeve of the inserted conductor and establish electrical and mechanical contact therewith. Moreover, the terminal's influence on the wire in the post termination state is optimally expected to be of a resilient nature in order to preserve the electrical and mechanical integrity of the connection under a myriad of constantly changing environmental influences. In addition to the above constraints, the terminal must be easily produced for economic reasons, and must require a minimal amount of insertion force to facilitate the termination of a conductor.
Heretofore, no electrical terminal had been invented which could satisfy the cost, performance, and space constraints outlined above. U.S. Pat. No. 3,162,501 discloses a terminal adapted to displace insulation and terminate conductors which are not on relatively close center lines. While this terminal has been well received by the industry and works well in some applications, the terminal is relatively complex in structure and is not suited for applications where conductors having relatively tough insulative coverings are to be terminated.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,018,177 discloses a terminal for effecting insulation displacing termination of conductors on close centers, but while this terminal works well in certain applications, it is relatively more complicated to form and is not suited for applications where a highly resilient residual force must be maintained on a terminated conductor; or where the insulative covering on the conductor is relatively tough and therefore difficult to penetrate.